Thursday 30 December 2010

Euphoria 2010

Milky Wimpshake in full flight. Nottingham, 25 September 2010
In the absence of lists, there's one stand out moment from this year of pop for me, and that was on the Saturday night of the Nottingham weekender. That's right - I'm celebrating a gig I was partly responsible for putting on. The indiepop scene is a dot.

Downstairs that night four of my favourite bands played one after the other in a packed pub that was full of smiling faces and beating hearts. It was like we'd won for a couple of hours, you see. There in that little pub was a group of like-minded souls there to listen to Horowitz, Betty and the Werewolves, Milky Wimpshake and Allo Darlin'.

There have been times in the past when things at gigs have just clicked and the outside world of work and bills and government attacks on us all seem a million miles away; The Deirdres after Indietracks 2008, for example, or Prolapse back in 1994 at the Narrowboat (and I will stop going on about that one day). But that night in September was perhaps better than both of those occasions, because the anticipation was so high, and those bands didn't let us down. Not even the Mariners conceding a late equaliser to Altrincham could spoil things.

Sandy (whose photo that is up there) called the atmosphere "euphoric". I couldn't possibly comment, but somehow that gig shone a ray of sunshine into an exhausting, dispiriting year that was only made bearable by some fine, fine music and the thrilling fightback of some sections of the student population in the UK, and abroad.

So, thanks to Allo Darlin', The Felt Tips, Standard Fare, Sarandon, The Cannanes, Evans the Death, Matinee Records, The Sweet Nothings, Marianthi and her dedication to the Midland Mainline ticket office and all at Atomic Beat and Spiral Scratch, Northern Portrait, MJ Hibbett and his Validators, Sourpatch, February Records, Eardrums Music, Summer Library, The Indietracks crew, Tender Trap, Fortuna Pop!, Math and Physics Club, Bart and Friends, Scumbag Philosopher, Apple Orchard, Andy at a fog of ideas, Alan Connell, Baffin Island, Transmittens, The Awesomelines, Boy Genius, Electric Pop Group, Milky Wimpshake, Sourpatch, Withered Hand, Shrag, and loads of others I've almost certainly missed. And good bye Keith Alexander.

Oh look - a list.

See you next year.

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